Karachi target killings, highest in 15 years

Karachi is witness to the largest number of murders since 1995 according to records of the CPLC.

KARACHI: Karachi this year has witnessed the largest number of murders in fifteen years according to the records of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC).

There have been 1,034 deaths in the first ten months of 2010 with the month of August witness to the highest death toll of the year with 162 people murdered. The month of June saw the second highest death toll of 135 people being killed in various localities of the city.

In 1995, amid the massive killings in Karachi, the death toll was 1782.

CPLC’s records show that this is the  highest number of target killings since 1995, with the number expected to increase as two more months of the year still remain.

Assassinations in Karachi outnumber blast casualties

According to a report in The Gulf Today, target killings in the city have claimed more lives than that of suicide bombing across the country in this year.

Pakistan was struck by 335 incidents of suicide bombings in 2010 that claimed 1,208 people’s lives, according to the paper, whereas the number of target killings or assassinations during the same period was 1,233.

The commercial hub has been plagued by extortion rackets and politically motivated killings that are responsible for the high number of people killed.

The data collected by Gulf Today showed that 122 people were killed in January, 133 in February, 130 in March and April each, 144 in May, 122 in June, 135 in July, 176 in August, 81 in September and 13 people in the first two weeks of October. They said that at least 46 policemen and 2 Rangers’ personnel were killed in the city in the current year.

With additional reporting by Hassan Asif.